The Old Whaling Days

Chapter II. — The Brig “Elizabeth,” 1830 TO 1832

Chapter II.The Brig “Elizabeth,” 1830 TO 1832.

On 22nd February, 1830, the Elizabeth, a brig of 236 tons, lay in the London Docks completing her crew and cargo for a voyage to New South Wales. Her owners intended to discharge her English cargo at Sydney and then send her to the coast of New Zealand to engage in the flax trade. Her captain, who was also a part owner, was John Stewart, described as of Southtown, in Suffolk. On 3rd March she sailed, and, after discharging her cargo at Port Jackson, proceeded, on 19th August, to New Zealand for general trade.

Stewart first took his vessel into Whangaroa, the last resting place of the ill-fated Boyd, and then made for Kapiti, at that time the great flax emporium of New Zealand. Here he found Te Rauparaha and Te Hiko busily engaged in preparing for a raid against the tribe which, under Tamaiharanui, occupied the shores of Akaroa, and whose chief had committed the offence of having killed Te Pehi Kupe, the father of Te Hiko.

The foresight of Te Rauparaha, and the special facilities which Kapiti offered for coming in contact with shipping, had enabled a large stock of muskets and powder to be accumulated there for any venture the two chiefs had in view. The weapons having been secured, Te Rauparaha set himself to obtain for his warriors means of transport to the scene of action. Just then the Dragon of Hobart Town dropped anchor off the Island, and Te Rauparaha at once approached Captain Briggs for the use of his vessel.

More than merely the means of transport was to be gained by the employment of a British vessel. The mission of the trader was a peaceful one and Te Rauparaha saw that he could, with such aid, transport a large body of men without the publicity attending a flotilla of Maori canoes.
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The vessel was a transport, and at the same time a blind. The scheme was well thought out. The difficulties in the way were many, but were faced with consummate skill. A tribal war was not a thing in which captains of British vessels cared to interfere, and, knowing this, Te Rauparaha determined to get over the difficulty which Captain Briggs was bound to raise by making the objective of the mission appear to be satisfaction for wrongs committed against white men. He represented that Te Pehi Kupe, the chief whose death he sought to obtain satisfaction for, had been the friend and avenger of the wrongs of the Pakeha. If that was not enough he and Te Hiko reminded the captain that there were no less than three other charges standing against Tamaiharanui and all of them involving responsibility for the death of Europeans. The first was that of a trader named Smith, in the employ of Captain Wiseman, who had been killed at the same time as Te Pehi Kupe. The second was the case of Captain J. Dawson and five of the crew of the Samuel, in 1824. The third was the murder of a midshipman and boat's crew belonging to H.M.S. Warspite.

In addition to the skill which the two cannibal chiefs manifested in voicing the cries for vengeance for the spilt blood of Maori and Pakeha, they showed considerable diplomacy. They informed Captain Briggs that they were quite prepared to pay, and to pay well, for the use of his vessel. Though often regarded as an illustration of the brutality of Te Rauparaha it may rather be an indication of his knowledge of the European trading captain of that day, that he proposed to make good the want of a suitable cause of war by a plentiful supply of its sinews.

Briggs would not agree to the proposal. He was not averse to taking part in an expedition against one whom he believed to be a murderous villain, but he objected to the scheme as outlined by the Kapiti chiefs. He would only go so far as to convey Te Rauparaha and two of his best men to Akaroa, where they could get an opportunity of securing the object of their vengeance: he would not be a
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party to their scheme of wholesale butchery. Te Rauparaha, who always believed in the personal safety of the leader of any expedition which he himself commanded, insisted on taking with him not less than twenty of his people, but. as that would give him the physical command of the Dragon, Briggs would not agree and the negotiations ceased. At this stage the Elizabeth arrived.

It is only fair to Stewart to state that he could have known, personally, nothing of the habits of the Maoris, nothing of the crafty nature of Te Rauparaha, and nothing of the truth or otherwise of the charges made against Tamaiharanui. If, in his ignorance, he appealed to Briggs for corroborative evidence of the iniquities of the Akaroa chief, he would get it, because Briggs believed that he was, as described to a Hobart Town editor, a “monster, the recapitulation of whose atrocities would fill a dozen of your numbers.” Outside of Briggs, Stewart's adviser would be his trading master, Cowell, who, from what transpired afterwards, would have no scruples how flax or any other cargo was obtained, so long as it was got. Whatever was the cause, Stewart favourably considered Te Rauparaha's proposals, and ultimately closed a bargain with him to convey his expedition to Akaroa, and to return with it to Kapiti after the objects of the expedition had been attained. Briggs says that he tried to dissuade Stewart from taking more Maoris on board than he could control, and urged him to send ashore, on arrival at Akaroa, men with presents, and who would state that they wanted to make the chief alone responsible for the death of the white men. This advice was ignored, and, on 29th October, 1830, an expedition of something like 120 men, armed with muskets and native weapons, embarked on board the Elizabeth and set sail for Banks Peninsula.

Here we may be permitted to digress for a moment to analyse the causes assigned by Te Rauparaha for asking the co-operation of a European vessel in such an undertaking. The death of Te Pehi Kupe might, according to native custom, warrant Maoris in taking steps to secure
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vengeance from Maoris, but would never justify the intervention of the Pakeha, not even if a Pakeha's death was brought about under the circumstance mentioned in the case of Smith. So much for the first case quoted. The death of Captain Dawson and his five men—the second charge—took place, so it was recorded at the time, at Cook Strait, which would seem to be inconsistent with Tamaiharanui's personal complicity, as that chief had his headquarters at Akaroa. No further information regarding this matter is at the author's disposal. The loss of a midshipman and a boat's crew belong to H.M.S. Warspite, which was the third charge, is a matter capable of proof or disproof, by a simple perusal of the vessel's log. This, on examination, shows that from August. 1825, to March, 1833, she only visited Cook Strait once—in January, 1827. On that occasion she was within sight of land from the-fourteenth to the twentieth, but never once landed a boat's crew. That charge, then, goes by the board. As bearing on the same question the author desires to place on record a statement made to him by the Rev. Canon Stack, who long laboured with much acceptance among the Maoris at Kaiapohia, that the natives there always maintained to him that whatever wrongs they had committed in the past, their hands were clean of white man's blood. The three charges against Tamaiharanui, made to justify European intervention, may, therefore, be ascribed as: the first, not applicable; the second, not probable; and the third, not true.

After an uneventful passage in the Elizabeth, Stewart arrived at Akaroa, and, to prevent the possibility of arousing the suspicions of the natives residing in the Bay, gave not the slightest indication that any Maoris were concealed on board. For several days, while the vessel lay at anchor, he kept Te Rauparaha's men down below and only permitted them to patrol the decks at night. The vessel's appearance thus conveyed the impression that she had come into the Bay merely to trade, as vessels from Australia often did at that time. It is reported from Maori sources, that, when the Elizabeth arrived. Tamaiharanui
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was not at home, but was on the flax ground with the women dressing flax, and Stewart, to lull all suspicions and at the same time to arouse the cupidity of the natives, brought 10 muskets and 2 casks of powder up to the chief's house. Be that as it may, the chief was invited to come on board, and information was sent him of the captain's desire to trade, and of the fact that he had plenty of muskets to buy flax.

Some three or four days after casting anchor in the Bay, Captain Stewart, and Cowell, went ashore with a boat's crew, professedly for sport. One of the sailors who gave evidence before the Sydney Magistrate said:—

“Three or four days after our arrival and before the landing of the Natives, the Captain and the Trading Master (Mr. Cowell) went on shore in the boat to shoot. There were four or five men of the ship in the boat unarmed, and on our return we met a canoe with a chief in it; he hailed us, and we pulled slowly till he came up with us; he was very glad to see us; Mr. Cowell spoke to him in the native language, and afterwards the chief came on board the ship—very gladly as it appeared to me. A little girl of about 11 years of age, and three or four natives, were with him. The little girl and the chief came on board our boat, and the other boat rowed away.”

Tamaiharanui was now in Stewart's power, and, all unconscious of the friends which awaited him on board the Elizabeth, was the first to climb on board when they reached the vessel's side. He was met on deck and accompanied to the cabin by Clementson, the chief mate. There the mate, with the assistance of three sailors, put him in irons. The old chief, says John Swan, the carpenter on board the Elizabeth, “made no resistance, but spoke and seemed much agitated.” The scene which followed with Te Rauparaha and Te Hiko before the old chief, is recorded by no eye witness, but probably no story in circulation exaggerates its horrors. After the chief had thus been secured, and on the same day, two canoes
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with some six or seven natives, including the chief's wife, came on board this floating man-trap to carry on trade. At once they were seized by Te Rauparaha and put into the hold. No native found out the trap in time to get away and warn his tribesmen; not a shadow of suspicion of the awful truth was communicated ashore. Nothing now remained for Te Rauparaha to do but to land, and in form and manner as by Maori usage appointed or tolerated, to carry out the object of the expedition, until the last Akaroa native was dead or captured.

We have the authority of the second mate for the statement that when the chief had been secured in the hold and Te Rauparaha was making preparations for going ashore to complete the work of destruction, the crew of the Elizabeth wanted the captain to sail away and thus prevent further bloodshed. Stewart, however, was fearful that if Te Rauparaha found himself thwarted he would turn on the ship's crew and wreak his vengeance on them. As there were some 120 Maoris on board and only a mere handful of Europeans, the former had physical command of the brig. The fear expressed by Captain Briggs had come true, Stewart was no longer master of his own vessel.

Te Rauparaha waited until all was quiet that night, and, between the hours of one and two o'clock in the morning, the Akaroa canoes captured that day, manned by Kapiti Maoris, and the ship's skiff and whaleboat, manned by a crew from the vessel and accompanied by the infamous Stewart, pushed off from the ship's side and made for the shore. To make their work all the more effective the flotilla divided into two parts, one to the one side of the Bay, the other to the other. No European eye witnesses have described the scene for us but Akaroa's hills were that night lit with the fires of her burning whares, and her creeks were dyed with the blood of her slaughtered people. From the ship the sailors saw the fires of the burning whares. All night the work of butchery continued, and only those escaped the wild fury of Te Rauparaha who fled to the bush-clad mountains. Before breakfast the ship's
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boats returned. Stewart came with them, as also did Te Rauparaha, and probably Te Hiko. It is alleged, by the only Maori whose evidence was taken in Sydney, that the European sailors took many of the Banks Peninsula natives prisoners, and handed them over to their Kapiti enemies. There is every reason to fear that this charge was correct.

After breakfast, Stewart and Te Rauparaha, with Cowell and a boat's crew, returned to the shore. All, by Stewart's orders, were well armed with small arms and swords. The village was still in flames and six or seven bodies of men, women, and children, who were killed during the night, were seen by the party. At the place where the boat landed were about a dozen of Te Rauparaha's men, and Cowell spoke to them when he came up. The boat stopped ashore for only half an hour, but during that time a woman, covered with blood, was seen to come out of one of the burning whares. She was at once set upon, pushed down the hill, and killed with spears. When the boat returned, Te Rauparaha and Te Hiko remained on shore to take part in the cannibal feast which was being prepared and to direct the ghastly work which was to follow that.

In the afternoon a boat from the ship visited the other side of the Bay. She was under the command either of Cowell or Richardson and remained for two hours when she brought back the two chiefs to the ship. By that time fires had been made, the bodies had been cooked, and what was not consumed had been packed into baskets for transport to Kapiti. That night the Kapiti natives returned on board the Elizabeth with their horrible burdens. Some twenty of those captured ashore were kept as prisoners to accompany the returning warriors, and were placed in the hold along with those who had been taken out of the canoes when they visited the Elizabeth the day before.

None taken prisoners on the ship were killed, nor were any of those killed on shore cooked on board, nor in the
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cooking vessels belonging to the ship. All the bodies were cooked on shore in the primitive Maori fashion of the day, thus described by Captain Briggs who saw the Kapiti Islanders adopt it for the cooking of their food:—

“They dig a hole in the earth two feet deep, in which they make a quantity of round stones red hot with dry wood, after which they take out all the stones, except a few at the bottom, over which they lay several alternate tiers of leaves and flesh, until there is as much above ground as below—they then throw about two or three quarts of water over all—and confine the steam with old mats and earth so completely, that in 20 minutes the flesh is cooked; it is in this way that they cook and cure all their provisions.”

It was thus they occupied themselves after the massacre; it was thus they prepared the flesh of the dead which they brought on board the Elizabeth. As soon as the expedition had returned from their bloody work, Stewart ordered 10 guns to be fired.

As near as the author can determine from a careful analysis of the depositions and from other contemporary statements on the subject, the date of this awful event was 6th November, 1830.

The massacre over, the live prisoners secured on board the Elizabeth, the unconsumed flesh packed away in baskets in the ship's hold, and the death salute fired, Captain Stewart lifted the anchor and sailed for Kapiti to land this awful cargo and receive payment for his horrible services. On the voyage, with the object of preventing her falling into the hands of her captors, the old chief and his wife, who were confined in the fore cabin, strangled their little daughter. Burial was provided by the chief mate and some of the sailors throwing the body overboard. Tamaiharanui gave as a reason to Montefiore for the killing of his daughter, “One die, all die.” When this took place, the chief's wife was also put in irons. Kapiti was reached on the morning of 11th November.

About eleven o'clock on the day of landing preparations were made for embarking the miscellaneous cargo of live captives and dead human flesh. The prisoners, with the exception of Tamaiharanui, were marched on shore, and seated in rows on the beach, and the preserved flesh was carried off in baskets to the place appointed for the cannibal feast. It was estimated that about one hundred baskets of flesh were landed and that each basket contained the equivalent, of one human body. That was probably an exaggeration. Then commenced the dance. The record by a Hobart Town reporter from an eyewitness of the scene reads as follows:—

“The warriors, entirely naked—their long black hair, although matted with human gore, yet flowing partially in the wind—in the left hand a human head—in the right a bayonetted musket held by the middle of the barrel. Thus, with a song, the terrible expression of which can only be imagined by being heard, did they dance round their wretched victims—every now and again, approaching them with gestures threatening death, under its most horrible forms of lingering torture. But they did not inflict it. None of them were killed.”

The captives, with the exception of one old man and a boy who were sentenced to death, were apportioned amongst the conquering warriors as slaves. The tables were laid. About a hundred baskets of potatoes, a large supply of green vegetables, and equal quantities of whale blubber and human flesh constituted the awful menu. The old man, from whose neck hung suspended the head of his son, while the body formed part of the cannibal feast, was brought forth and subjected to torture from the women before the last seene of all. Captain Briggs, an eyewitness of all this, made a desperate resolve to save the lives of the man and the boy, and, just as the axe was about to fall on the lad's head, he rushed forward at the risk of his own life, and, by threats and entreaties, saved the life of the boy altogether, and secured a respite of the old man's
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execution for the space of one day. The banquet went on to a finish, and, though it proved none the less attractive to the participants, was rendered all the more hideous to the onlookers by the fact that the midsummer season when it took place, added to the hasty and incomplete manner in which the human flesh had been prepared in the ovens. caused the human—yet unhuman—food to become putrid in a most revolting form, before it was spread out for the banquet. The officers of the Dragon witnessed this frightful orgie, and some of them brought to Hobart Town mementoes of the scene, dissected from the bodies, as they lay out for the repast. The Maori lad who was saved accompanied Captain Briggs as his attendant, when he sailed, and held the position until he died, some three years later.

As the flax which was to repay Stewart for the charter of the brig was not at hand, Tamaiharanui was retained on board. There he remained until Montefiore, who had now arrived at Kapiti in the Argo, went on board and saw him on the 23rd or the 25th of December. Apparently he was not then in irons. Captain Briggs appears to have tried his best to induce Stewart to retain the chief on board, and, after getting what flax he could, to sail for Sydney. The same advice was given to him by others. Stewart thought he had gone too far to do that, and, although only a portion of the flax had been handed over to him, decided to surrender Tamaiharanui to Te Rauparaha.

Montefiore and Stewart were both on board the brig when this final act of perfidy was committed. Richardson brought the old man out from his place of captivity, and handed him over to his inhuman captor. Te Rauparaha first of all went with his prisoner over to Kapiti. Then he returned to the ship and Montefiore joined the boat. Cowell was the only other European on board. They sailed over, to Otaki, which was about ten miles from where the Elizabeth was lying at anchor. There the Akaroa chief was landed and they all marched to the home of Te Rauparaha. On the following morning Montefiore visited. Te
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Hiko's settlement, and five or six hours afterwards Tamaiharanui arrived in a canoe. He was apparently being taken from place to place as the central figure of a Maori triumph, and at every place was being made the object of derision by his captors. Harvey, the European already mentioned as residing on the mainland, stated that the old chief was killed by sticking a knife into his throat. He pointed out the scene of the tragedy to Montefiore. It was a placed called by the Maoris, Waikawa. The chief's wife had already been killed at Otaki. Both were eaten. A report current at the time was that Tamaiharanui was fixed to a cross and his throat cut by the widow of Te Pehi Kupe, the chief whom he had slain. It was also said that while she drank a portion of the blood as it flowed from the wound, her son, Te Hiko, tore out the eyes of his victim, and swallowed them, to prevent them being fixed in the firmament of stars, as Maoris believed would happen on such an event.

After waiting for over six weeks, and getting only 16 or 18 of the 50 tons of flax promised, Stewart, with Montefiore and Kemmis on board as passengers, took the Elizabeth on to Sydney, which was reached on 14th January, 1831.

Although the two passengers mentioned might have been expected to see that something was done to bring Stewart to justice, they appear to have taken no steps whatever, and it was not until Gordon Davies Browne, a merchant of Sydney who was interested in the New Zealand trade, took the matter up, that the crime was brought under the notice of the authorities. On the 5th 6th and 7th February, the Superintendent of Police at Sydney held an inquiry and took the depositions of G. D. Browne, J. B. Montefiore, and A. Kemmis, of Sydney, Pery. a native of Akaroa, and W. Brown and J. Swan, two of the crew of the Elizabeth. On the 7th, these depositions were forwarded to Governor Darling, with a recommendation by the police authorities that the opinion of the Crown Law Officers should be taken as to whether an
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offence had been committed which could be punished under the Act 9, Geo. IV. c. 83. On the same day Mr. Moore, the Crown Law Officer, gave his opinion that the depositions did not disclose enough to warrant a commitment by the Magistrates, and that he doubted whether any offence had been committed which would come under the criminal law of England. On the twelfth, the Colonial Secretary, by direction of Governor Darling, instructed Mr. Moore to file criminal informations against the master (Stewart), the mate (Clementson), Cowell, Richardson, and G. Brown, “considering it a case in which the character of the nation was implicated and that every possible exertion should be used to bring the offenders to justice.” The warrants were at once prepared by Moore but some difficulty was experienced in getting the necessary information from the agents of the vessel and from the police. In due course, however, the warrants were obtained from the Court, but the fact of proceedings having been commenced must have leaked out, as the Chief Constable could find no one but Stewart: the others had vanished. Although the charge was one of murder, Moore agreed, considering the uncertainty of the legal position, that Stewart should be admitted to bail, himself in the sum of £500, and two sureties in the sum of £500 each. Mr. Browne's solicitor stated that efforts were being made by residents of Sydney to get the accused and the material witnesses removed beyond the jurisdiction of the Court. The delay from 14th January to 5th February evidently enabled that to be done.

The same unsatisfactory condition of things followed Stewart's arrest. Time wore on. On 21st May, Moore stated in Court that he did not intend to proceed with the charge of murder, but would prosecute a charge of misdemeanour on the Monday following, or, if he did not, would abandon the prosecution altogether. When the Monday came he was still unprepared, but the Court refused Counsel's motion to discharge the recognizances. On 1st June another application of a like nature was, after
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judgment reserved, declined. Seventeen days afterwards Stewart obtained his release, without even the semblance of a trial for his crime.

Meanwhile, under date of 13th April, Governor Darling had sent a copy of the papers connected with the case to London, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. This report indicates very clearly the Governor's opinion that the proceedings against Stewart would end in nothing. Darling's communication found its way, in the ordinary official course, to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, who set about consideration of it with the utmost vigour. The opinion of the King's Advocate and the Attorney and Solicitor-General, on the law points raised, was taken and turned out quite opposed to that of the Crown Solicitor at Sydney. It stated—

“We think it clear that by the Law of England Captain Stewart and Clementson as the Mate are guilty as accomplices before the Fact, to the Murder of Mara Nui and his wife if not to that of the Tribe which was massacred and we think the fact fully proved by the witnesses. It is also clear that the 3rd and 4th sections of the 9th of Geo. 4. Cap. 83 give the Court at Van Diemens Land jurisdiction to try these offences. We therefore lament that measures for securing and bringing them to trial were not taken at New South Wales. We advise that they should be apprehended as they can be met with, and brought to their Trial when the attendance of the witnesses against them can be procured.”

It was not until this that any reply was sent to Governor Darling's despatch. On 31st January, 1832, Lord Goderich expressed in no uncertain terms his detestation of the doings of Captain Stewart. His despatch to Governor Bourke, Darling's successor, contains these memorable words:—

“It is impossible to read without shame and indignation the details which these documents disclose. The unfortunate Natives of New Zealand, unless some
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decisive measures of prevention be adopted, will, I fear, be shortly added to the number of those barbarous Tribes, who in different parts of the Globe, have fallen a sacrifice to their intercourse with Civilized Men, who bear and disgrace the name of Christians, when, for mercenary purposes, the Natives of Europe minister to the passions by which these Savages are inflamed against each other, and introduce them to the knowledge of depraved acts and licentious gratifications of the most debased inhabitants of our great Cities, the inevitable consequence is, a rapid decline of population preceded by every variety of suffering.”

The Lords of the Treasury did not permit it to rest at that. On receipt of the opinion of the law advisers they decided that, late as it was, every effort should be made to bring the offenders to justice, and they gave instructions accordingly. They left not a stone unturned. From the Secretary of the Customs, London, came word that as the brig had not returned to that port, he could not say where Stewart and Clementson were. All efforts made to secure the names of the crew were also futile. Information from Yarmouth was to the effect that Stewart had severed his connection with the Elizabeth. That was all the information which could be obtained up to April. In regard to the desire of the Lords of the Treasury to follow the matter to the end they were informed that the great difficulty in the way of doing anything in England was the absence of the accused and of the witnesses, and that all that could be done was to keep a close look-out for the return of the brig and her crew. Until she was secured, nothing further was possible in the way of legal proceedings.

Stewart is said to have perished at sea, but little or no evidence can be found of what his end really was.

The responsibility for this shocking miscarriage of justice must rest with someone in Sydney. Montefiore and Kemmis appear not to have considered it to be any part of their duty to take steps in the matter. To incur the hostility of Te Rauparaha would have killed their chances
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in the Cook Strait flax trade. That, of course, may not have been their reason. As the result of proceedings being left to an outsider, twenty-two days passed before the depositions were taken by the Superintendent of Police. This officer even then appears to have doubted whether the offence was one which was punishable. On 7th February, Mr. Moore, the Crown Solicitor, advised that the evidence was not sufficient, nor was the legal position clear. Twenty-four days had elapsed and an enquiry had been held. The seamen involved had plenty of time to transact their business in Sydney, and the enquiry was a warning of coming prosecution. Naturally they were on the move. In spite of that, five days were allowed to pass before Moore received instructions—which he did on the twelfth—to prosecute the parties. The instructions came too late. All but Stewart had fled. That five days' delay may easily have been responsible for what followed. It is also worthy of notice that though, on 12th February. Governor Darling sent peremptory orders for the prosecution of the culprits, he never made enquiries how things were proceeding until 8th April. The fact that he was sending to London a despatch on 13th April would suggest that the enquiry was then made to enable him to report the position to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and that it would not have been made but for the Home despatch. We also know that, on or about this date, Marsden had had two interviews with Darling on the same matter, and on other subjects of complaint by Maoris of the intervention of Europeans in their quarrels. From whatever cause, we know that the inaction of the Governor, the erroneous view of the Crown Law Officer, and the fear in the mind of the Superintendent of Police that he was exceeding his duty, all combined to cheat the gallows of a most deserving case. Browne's Solicitor indicated to Moore that strong pressure was being exerted by influential men in Sydney to get the accused and the witnesses out of the road. There was probably something in that charge. The system was not unknown there at the time, and if, in this case. it was true and was
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not responsible in some measure for the action of the three officers alluded to, it would, at any rate, find all difficulties removed by the strange proceedings of these three gentlemen. It only remains to add that Thomas Street, a Sydney merchant, had chartered, the vessel for the voyage. The same man had also been interested in the Samuel, which was mentioned by Te Rauparaha when seeking to enlist the services of Captain Stewart. Street would also be in the same position as Montefiore. He does not appear to have helped the authorities in the slightest.

To the credit of the Home Authorities not only did they enter their most emphatic protest and call on the officers for an explanation, but they also tried to make good the inaction at Sydney by taking every step in their power to bring the accused to trial in London.

The only results which followed these futile investigations were two: the attention of the Admiralty was called to the necessity of more regular visits of men-of-war, and instructions were issued to that effect, and the appointment of a British Resident for New Zealand was approved. In the further narrative these two important developments will be dealt with only so far as they affect the southern portion of New Zealand.

The more important of the official papers connected with this historic incident will be found set out as Appendix “A.”